The Insider's Guide to Riddle
by xMaryEllenx
Summary: AU!fanfic - Being in possession of anything mysterious is bound for trouble, but does young Ms Weasley realise just what she's getting herself into?
1. Once Upon A Time

**(A/N) So an idea came for this last night and the little nagging voice in the back of my head wouldn't be quiet until I wrote this down. So here it is, hope you enjoy!**

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She wasn't nervous this year. She had no reason to be. She had a new friend, somebody like her, who respected her, trusted her. And she trusted him, respected him. She was dependant on him. At first she wasn't, she was wary at first as she was with everyone she began talking to. But after the course of a month she felt comfortable and at ease with her new correspondent. It was then that she began telling him everything from her life to her problems to Harry Potter and Hogwarts and he listened, he listened intently. She could tell he did. He would never go without replying to her, she was always assured that he would reply in the blink of an eye without fail. He always did.

She carried that journal around with her all summer long. She didn't know how she got it, she didn't really care either; she saw it as a blessing in disguise. All she knew was after returning from their yearly supply haul, it was shoved between the pages of her Charms book.

Every free chance she had she would talk to her faithful friend. Nobody was ever suspicious of it either. They assumed it was a normal thing - most teenage girls have their private things, she had a journal - and they never questioned her about it. Well, her family never questioned it.

Hermione did.

"Gin," she would say. "Why are you always carrying around that diary?"

And Ginny would shrug. She didn't feel a need to answer Hermione about this, it didn't concern her. "I just do. I feel safer with it with me."

At answers like this, Hermione's brow would furrow in concern. "Is there something you're hiding?"

"I wouldn't trust to leave it around my brothers, Hermione. You know what they're like. I don't want them seeing inside," she would explain incredibly nonchalantly. It wasn't a lie. She didn't want her family to see it, well, _inside_ it. If they discovered what was inside they would confiscate it and that would be the end of her friendship with Mr Riddle. So she kept it with her at all times.

She wouldn't risk not being able to communicate with him. She had become too invested into their friendship to be able to let him go. She hoped he felt the same way about it. She didn't know what she would do if she found out that he wasn't as bothered about her as she was with him.

But a voice in her head reassured her he was. This voice was calm and collected. It was a male's voice. It reminded her of sleet; it wasn't frozen enough to be snow but it was still cold all the same. And yet Ginny found comfort in this voice; this voice that she assumed belonged to him.

Another reason to not let anybody know what was inside- if they found out she was now hearing voices they would for sure jump to the conclusion something was mentally wrong and have her treated. She couldn't let that happen.

It was a few weeks before the start of the new Hogwarts school year. She was now in her 6th year - well, going into her 6th year - of her education at the wizarding school. And for the first time since starting school she was excited. She couldn't wait to be on that train, in the Great Hall, the common room, heck, she couldn't wait for her classes. She knew she'd do well in everything with her friend Tom.

While enthusiastically packing she opened the journal and wrote in her large cursive.

_Hello Tom._

Not long later the reply appeared underneath hers. _Ginevra, it's always a pleasure._

It was very neat writing he had. A small cursive; not small enough that you have to strain your eyes to read it, small enough to make it appear very neat and tidy. The i's were left undotted and the capital letters were always illustrated in a calligraphic way. She loved his handwriting.

_I start back at Hogwarts in two and a half weeks._

_What year?_

_6th._

The next reply didn't appear for a few minutes. Every minute that went by was agonising for her, she willed for his writing to appear on the page. And it did.

_A year below me then. Say, Ginevra, I have a proposition. _

She was confused. What could he possibly want with Ginny Weasley? She didn't want to voice her confusion, at that moment she was more intrigued by what his actual proposition was rather than the meaning behind it.

_What is it?_

_I want to meet you._


	2. Anticipation

**(A/N) Thank you for the reviews so far! It means a lot to me! So here's the next part, hope you enjoy.**

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She couldn't believe what she was reading, this was the proof she needed that he cared too. She knew it, she knew that nagging voice couldn't have been wrong! Her usual neat writing turned into messy scrawls as she wrote. She was too overwhelmed to focus on the untidiness.

_You.. you want to meet me?_

_Of course I do, Ginevra. Why should I not want to?_

_I don't know.. how am I supposed to meet you?_

She became confused. How was somebody inside of a diary supposed to be able to meet her? The thought of it baffled her. She couldn't think of any logical way this could happen.. until he replied.

_Why, I'll bring you here._

'He'll bring me there..,' she thought to herself. She pondered this for a few moments, bringing her hand up to her face. Her thumb supported her chin up while her index finger lingered on her lips. 'How in the bloody hell is he supposed to do that?' It didn't make any sense to her, it only confused her further.

_How? And when?_

_The first day back at Hogwarts. After the sorting ceremony and feast have ended. Go somewhere secluded, where nobody will be able to conveniently be able to walk in. Don't worry about anything else, I'll handle the rest. _

The first day back at Hogwarts. She couldn't help but think that that was an odd time to meet but she didn't argue against it. She didn't want to risk annoying him. She didn't want to risk him retracting his offer to bring her to him. She didn't want anything bad to happen. She did, however, feel a warm sensation inside of her, a feeling of fluffy happiness. Ginny smiled.

_Sounds good to me. _

_It's perfect._

A voice called her; as they spoke she could hear them getting closer and closer. She wrote so quickly it was almost unreadable but she wanted to answer him before the owner of the voice reached her room.

_I'll be back in a minute, somebody's coming._

She slammed the journal shut and shoved it between the bed frame and her mattress. Just in time too because as soon as she did so the door knob turned and her brother walked in, followed by a bespectacled dark-haired boy not much taller than her.

"You could knock first, you know," she hissed. She smiled at Harry before turning her attention back to Ron. "What do **you **want?"

"Jeez, somebody's awfully cold today," he muttered, looking at the floor. Well, looking at as much floor as he could. The wood was barely noticeable underneath all the clothes and books. He sighed and nudged his companion, gesturing at the floor. "Usually it's the girls who are clean, right?"

She snarled. "Shut up, Ron. If you're not going to tell me what you wanted you can leave."

Harry stepped in front of Ron, knowing that this sibling squabble wasn't going to get anywhere. "We were wondering if you wanted to come play some quidditch with us before dinner is ready."

She glanced over at her broom in the corner of her small room. She oh-so desperately wanted to say yes; she hadn't flown in so long, she felt like she was beginning to get rusty. But at the same time she oh-so desperately wanted to continue talking to Tom, she didn't want him to get annoyed with her for any reason.

"I'll be out later on," she replied, giving a half-hearted smile to the pair as they left. As soon as she was certain nobody else would disturb her she grabbed the diary once again and opened it; pleased to see that he had replied.

_I'll stay right here._

She smiled.

_I'm back. It was my brother and Harry. _

_Ah yes, that's the boy you were telling me about before, right?_

She couldn't help but blush, turning her face away from the journal as if she could see him through the coffee coloured pages. _Yes, it is._

_The boy that you fancy, am I correct?_

That question made her freeze. Did she fancy Harry Potter? Well, she certainly did when she was a kid, she idolized him to no end. But now as she got older that romantic affection slowly turned into sibling love. She no longer considered him a potential love interest but a brother.

_We're too close for me to even consider that now._

_That's good to hear._

'That's good to hear' She scanned the words what seemed a million times but it wouldn't sink in. What does he mean, 'that's good to hear'? Her brow furrowed in a mix of curiosity and confusion.

_What do you mean 'That's good to hear'?_

_You don't need to be distracted by boys, you're better than all the people you have told me about._

She hummed in approval. That was the first compliment he ever paid her. At least she thought it was a compliment; she certainly took it as one. She was beaming from ear to ear.

_Thank you._

_It's only the truth, Ginevra. _

She was happy. How did somebody that she had never even met before make her feel so warm, so happy. Filled with butterflies, tingly, covered in goosebumps, somewhat nauseas (she put this down to the butterflies currently flapping around her stomach and not due to actual sickness.)

_I have to go now, I'm sorry. I promised I'd go outside with my brother and play quidditch. I'll talk to you later if that's alright._

_Okay, I'll be right here. I shall speak with you later._

She shut the diary and tried to roll it up as much as she could, though, with it being a book this task proved difficult. Needless to say, it was a feeble attempt. She ended up taking the paperback and folding it enough so it would fit into her jeans pocket and grabbed her broom before running down the stairs to join the game.


End file.
